Kroenke wants ‘cool’ Premier League win

Stan Kroenke says it would be cool if Arsenal won the Premier League and has backed Arsene Wenger as the man to bring the title back to North London.

In an interview with the Mirror, the majority shareholder said the signing of Mesut Ozil was a necessity, not a statement, and that he’d love to experience the Gunners take home the Premier League crown.

“There would be nothing cooler,” he said. “I’ve never experienced it over here, to win the championship of the Premier League. Some of my American cohorts have experienced that and we haven’t been able to.

“I’m not getting any younger. It’s something I would like to achieve. There would be nothing more thrilling than to win a championship.

“I know that I say how much I’d like to win. But I know for the players, for the coaches and the manager, everyone around the club who is there every day, I can’t imagine the level of excitement they would have.

“The idea that no one cares or is passionate about that sort of thing is just beyond the realms of ­imagination.”

He spoke about the signing of Ozil from Real Madrid and denied that Arsenal had spent the money because they were under pressure to do so.

“We weren’t there to make a statement. It’s absolutely not done for that. It was done purely because our manager views him as worth that money, sees him as a player to help us compete, and that meant we were happy to pay it.”

And of Wenger himself, Kroenke admitted they had a good relationship and that he’d like to see the Frenchman continue beyond his contract when it expires next summer.

“I really enjoy Arsene,” he said. “I enjoy talking with him, he is a very interesting guy. He has an ­absolute view on how he runs that team and the club. He has earned that right. Don’t look for me to interfere with that. I have learnt over the years that sometimes owners try do that and it is not so good.

“Guys who try to say that we should push Arsene harder to spend and so on, that’s fair enough, there’s always lots of opinions, but Arsene is an independent thinker, planner, works very hard at it, has a wonderful record and history.

“Arsène knows how we feel, what our philosophy is, what we want to do and I feel like we are totally aligned. I think he wants to do it the exact same way as we do.”

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Read the full interview with Stan Kroenke, in which he talks about the Suarez bid, Wenger, his long term plans and more – herehere and here.

Which is precisely what the sudden media spotlight is probably for. Forgive me for being a pessimist but I cannot help but feel that Kroenke has used the first possible opportunity to ride the coattails of a positive media image. Very acute – stay silent when you need to, speak up when you have a club (figuratively).

I don’t mean that what he has said is disingenuous or false in any means – the timing is a bit too keen for it to be a mere proclamation however. It’s quite a bit of tasty information, much we have asked for, and that I cannot complain about.

If anything, the fact that he is a crafty spokesman is anything but positive for us – proof that he knows how to do business. Still we should take a look at his other American sports franchises and see exactly how they do business as well if we’re really to have a complete image of him…

My thoughts exactly… we could have used some of these communications when we were in the middle of the storm and there seemed to be no plan. His approach seems to be the mirror-image of Usmanov’s in that sense. 🙂

The only positive I can take out of this is the bit about Ozil not being a ‘marquee’ signing. I think it would’ve been very easy (especially if it was a leading question) to just say, oh yeah, we’ve made a statement. To stick to the “value for money” outlook even at that point indicates somewhat that it’s a genuinely held belief and not just propaganda to paper over a lack of resources.

I hope he doesn’t think he can take too much of the credit for the smashed transfer record and being top of the table. It is due to the hard work of the people who put these plans in place long before he bought the club.

It’s not exactly like he’s invested 42 million quid directly out of his own pocket for Mesut. What Arsene tells Stan, Stan would surely agree too.

I’m still not even convinced Stan knows what sport Arsenal Football Club is involved in.

Funny that I first found these comments while watching his NFL team get destroyed in the Thursday night game.

However, the Rams have a decent head coach and should have a couple of decent upcoming drafts from the RGIII trade. I’m guessing that Kroenke is also eyeing LA. There are stadium lease clauses that they might try to use to get out of St. Louis sooner rather than later. So, if he’s playing a really long game, the Rams aren’t in terrible shape but that has more to do with profitability than with winning and doesn’t change the fact that team has been sub-.500 since he took it over.

Moreover, his kid has turned the Nuggets into a disaster and the Avs have somehow gone from merely bad to terrible.

Been thinking at the timing, and you know, I think this might have been the first time he could have done this.

Last year things were so screwed up and divisive, that whatever he had said would probably made things worse. Would he have been believed, whatever he said? Even now people are looking into the deeper agenda with the AGM coming up, but last year?

Top of the league, in the CL and the cups, with one of the best players in the world added to the squad, people are relaxed enough to at least listen, even if they reserve judgment.

Personally, I’ve been ambivalent to the guy from day one and would prefer some kind plurality of ownership, maybe even with Usmanov.

All I ever wanted was three things: He was into things for the long term –I’d prefer it if he was a real Gooner, rather than just making an investment, but its the stability that matters.

He was never going to do a Glazers and suck us dry –he’s said exactly the same before and never done it to any of his other clubs, so a few more times and I might feeling comfortable about it.

Lastly, he’ll leave the professionals alone to run the club. — he both knows he isn’t around often enough (30-40 days a year from the article) to run things himself, and is smart enough to stay out of the way.

But he hasn’t done anything differently since you hated him before. I understand the apprehension of foreign ownership, particularly when it follows the fan share structure, but for an American owner to make necessary funds available and let football people use it without interference, what more do you want?

The Ozil transfer is not even turning a corner in transfer policy, in my opinion. It’s the same transfer we always make–a player who is available at a cut price due to circumstance. It’s just that this time that player was the best number ten in the world; £42m is still a cut price in this market.

More than Abramovich has ever done. Shady, capricious Russian oligarch with no experience owning sports teams, who could sell up at any moment, or American who’s owned various for 20 years and never sold one?

Precisely. People bitch about “Silent Stan” but do we really want an owner who puts his nose into the team where he clearly shouldn’t? Whatever you think about Arsene, who would you rather have making decisions about the team? If the football people make bad decisions it is the owners fault but I don’t want him making decisions about the team. He obviously knows little about the game and doesn’t act as if he does.

Interesting. I kind of like the fact he stays out of things. As long as he’s not taking money from the club, and he doesnt seem to be, then I have no problem with him. He lets Wenger get on with it and thats the main thing. Bad moustache though.

I genuinely am confused at the treatment that Stan and Ivan get. While i fall in the “Indifferent about our owners” group, i have to ask why they are so strongly hated by members of the fanbase.

Is it because Kronke is a billionaire and dosent put silly money into the club? Because he hadn’t/hasn’t laid anything out on his vision for the club? Because he dosen’t attend many matches? Because he bought a Ranch out of his own pocket? What is the expectation of owners in any sport?

Same with Gazidis. Why the hate? Because he dosen’t personally get involved in transfers? Because he comes from an American Sports background? Because he isn’t David Dien?

Help me out please. And this is not a knock, this is a genuine not knowing…

People need scapegoats upon whom to heap blame for the lack of ‘success’. Wenger is (rightly) difficult to criticise after all he’s done for the club, so guns are turned towards Gazidis and the aloof ‘Yank’ who ‘doesn’t care about the club.’

It is a lot about misinformation and scapegoating as Redondante said before. People actually don’t know what these two do and are more than happy to listen to what the gutter press has to say about them. And, in part, the Club is also to blame for not being more open about their doings.

Obviously transfer dealings must be kept quiet but the club did not clearly demonstrate that money was tight in previous years, what the short term plan was and then the long term plan. And then, in the summer, the calibre of player (whose numbers are so limited) we were actually after was so high that it surprised a lot of people.

With regards to Stan, well, people perhaps assume that the owner sets out the vision and goals of the club. However, in many cases the owner is just a figurehead, a convenient placement that stabilises the organisation so that its previously set long term goals can be realised.

‘The club did not clearly demonstrate that money was tight in previous years, what the short term plan was and then the long term plan.’

I must say, I think Wenger in particular has been very clear from 2004 onwards about what the plan was, and that 2012 would be a turning point. He said these exact words 4 or 5 years ago, and by then he was simply restating his position:

‘Briefly, these are the basics. I thought: ‘We are building a stadium, so I will get young players in early so I do not find myself exposed on the transfer market without the money to compete with the others. I build a team, and we compensate by creating a style of play, by creating a culture at the club because the boy comes in at 16 or 17 and when they go out they have a supplement of soul, of love for the club, because they have been educated together.’

I was thinking about this yesterday, during the League Cup game – we beat Sheffield United 6-0 in 2008 with an average age of about 18. Djourou, Gibbs, Ramsey, Wilshere, Coquelin, Song and Vela all played aged 20 or under. Say what you like about Djourou and Coquelin not being Arsenal quality, those 7 will all have Champions League level careers.

In the group before them – the first batch – we had Fabregas, van Persie, Flamini, Diaby, all signed at 20 or under. Under the youth policy, the 2006 side got to the Champions League final and the 2007/8 and 2010/11 sides were indisputably title challengers. I honestly don’t believe anyone else could or would have done what Wenger has done, and I think the lack of trophies has distracted from the achievement. We’ve come to shrug our shoulders at being in the Champions League every year, but to do that in the most competitive league in the world with a transfer record of 15 million? Incredible.

The only literally hopeless seasons were the last two – when we had no faint hope of challenging for titles. But if we’d known in 2011 that Nasri and Cesc would be replaced eventually by Cazorla and Özil… that we would have Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wilshere on 5 year-contracts…

Wenger’s hands have always been tied, 2012 was always earmarked as a turning point and he’s said since then that he would pay big money for the right player. We’ve got past 2012, we’ve got our dream player, we’re heading towards a dream team and Wenger and co. have been good to their word. Maybe we won’t win the league this year, but we’re in a position to challenge again.

Dude.. very well said.. it could very well be a blog man.. two thumbs up.. totally agree with u.. ANY TRUE ARSENAL FAN would know this.. our chelski n man city counter parts have corrupted our though process by flaunting their medals.. but these are hollow victories.. after all is said n done arsenal, man utd and liver pool will remain (even though liverpool are crap right now).. chelsea and man city are pretenders.. history forgets pretenders

No, Wenger’s hands have not always been tied, except insofar as they have been tied by his own philosophy of frugality. The club has had ample money for new signings for years now — Gazidis has said this explicitly several times — but Wenger has chosen not to spend the money available to him on account of his commitment to frugality. Did you even read the article? Stan said, to paraphrase, ‘Some people say we should push Arsene harder to spend … but we don’t want to interfere, etc.” That says it all. Spending is down to Wenger, and he has had, for some time, more money available to him than he has been willing to spend. As for Ozil proving that something has changed, he does and he doesn’t. Yes, it’s great that the club spent £40m on Ozil, but Wenger had at least another £30-40m available to spend and the squad had/has many pressing needs. Despite this, after an entire summer, with plenty of money to spend, who did Wenger sign other than Ozil? Two average players on frees, Sanogo and Flamini. Clearly Wenger felt pressured to spend — hence Ozil — but clearly he remains committed to the same principle of willful (and irrational) frugality that he has followed for so long. If Wenger had spent the money he had this summer on the team’s obvious needs (striker and holding mid), we could be a much stronger side now and going forward.

Arsène Wenger rarely looks to buy players just for the sake of it. He’s often said that he tries to find players who will fit into his vision of Arsenal, who will add something to the squad, not come in merely as makeweights and limit the prospects of the younger players he’s trying to bring through.

I’m sure if he had found those players, at the price of fees and wages he believed they merited, he would have spent more of that money that was available to him. It wasn’t that he wasn’t willing to spend the money that was available to him, it was that he was only willing to spend it wisely.

On the other hand, the boss has said he’s aware of the need to have a big enough squad to compete. Take Flamini, for example — he’s a squad player (we have a strong midfield, and arguably he’s competing with Arteta, one of the players AW really respects), but when he saw him in training he was impressed both by his vision and continuing love for the club, and by his commitment and work-rate. It’s quite clear that Flamini has indeed added something to the club.

The boss worked hard (we don’t know how hard because he doesn’t talk about what goes on behind the scenes) to try to find the attacker who fitted with his vision this summer — first Higuain (some would still say we should have pursued him further, but I think he would probably have chosen to go to Napoli anyway once they came in with their offer), then Suarez (though I was never happy about that). When he failed to land the fish he wanted, he looked at signing Demba Ba on loan, and was led on by Chelsea until Mourinho sneakily pulled the plug when it was too late to look elsewhere, admitting he was worried by the challenge offered by an Arsenal who now had Mesut Özil in midfield.

Two years ago, we were suddenly faced with the loss of RVP (AW, rather futilely I think, hoped he could persuade him to stay on, but decided in the end the wise thing to do was to cut his losses and sell him), and we went out and raided the almost empty shelves at the end of the sale period, coming home with Mikel Arteta (great buy), Yossi Benayoun on loan (good business), Andre Santos (mixed blessing) and Park Ju Young (no comment). We had, I believe, already decided to buy Per Mertesacker and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but all those came in in August 2011. Earlier that summer AW had signed Carl Jenkinson and Gervinho. That doesn’t sound to me like someone who’s “chosen not to spend the money available to him”.

You say we needed a striker and a holding midfielder this summer. Agreed. Well, we missed one (see above re Higuain et al), and got the other (Flamini). AW was clearly ready to spend a lot of mony on Suarez. Sorry, but I think you’re misjudging him, and simply regurgitating the malign crap purveyed by the rag-top press and other media like Talk Sport and Sky trying to stir up trouble in search of sensational headlines.

@Redondante — Completely agree and many of us have been saying this for years, There is only one other factor that needs to be accounted for if you were going to match my position*, and that is wages.

As to the above. This summer highlights exactly why wages were a problem. I’d retort with a simple Bollocks, I guess it needs expanding a bit.

The playoff of the club’s strategy over the last few years was paying in wages what we couldn’t pay in transfer fees — much easier if you are cash strapped but have a huge turnover. It meant identifying players early and promoting them, and paying high wages to retain them. At the same time, buys from outside were second tier guys that were more risky. Sometimes they work; sometimes they don’t (Koscielny VS Squillaci for example).

The failures were not an issue as long as you could offload them. Being stuck with too many of them was the problem.

As it is, the wage bill has inhibited us over the last 2-3 years: Its over 60% of what we make and rising, and we have only broken even because of the money from selling players*. We’ve been trying to get rid of the deadwood in that time, with limited success (and the benefits from it eaten up by new buys and contracts).

This summer, through a mixture of: good timing (contracts run down), using some of our cash pile to pay people off (Denilson for one) and ruthlessness (a lot of the youth, Gervinho), we’ve stripped nearly half a million a week off of the wage bill (£25 mil a year), which gives us the leeway to bring in people like Özil — £35 mil in wages over his contract, and Flamini who because he cost no fee is appartently not a solution for our defensive Mid (he’ll add around £2 mil to the wage bill though).

We didn’t get everyone though, which you could argue is because Arsene doesn’t like to bring too many at once, or because we are buying in a different market now, but are still not PSG or City.

The upside is that we do have cash in the bank, our wage bill is still nearly £300,000** a week lower than it was before, so we can pay as much as we need to the next recruit, and we will be nearly £100 mil a year better off from next season.

Glass half empty?

* you could argue that the board have been a bit too conservative as well, which is why we have tried not to make losses, or up the wage bill any more. When you are a quarter of a billion in debt, and are looking to the long term it makes more sense.

** If we’d offoaded The Last Samurai and the Invisible Korean Gentleman, you could add 100 grand to that.

its a marathon not a sprint…early season form good but we still need to buy some more quality players #januarytransferwindowcantcomesoonenough bring it on hopefully they are in talks already about bringing in some more would like to see them hijack lewondowski deal tho

Man Utd have had to pay more than £550m since the Glazer takeover. Their debt is still £389.2m. The Glazers have done well to double their commercial revenues but United rely way too much on winning things. They pay £60m a year just for INTEREST on their debt. With Ferguson gone and the squad not in great shape, they are extremely lucky they got the new deals done before Ferguson left. United are in for a rough few years now.

On the other hand Arsenal’s rough period is about to end. We have stockpiled enough cash, are working to increase our revenue, have a good young team plus a world class manager. Kroenke paid up £731m to takeover Arsenal and didn’t load a PENNY of that on to our debt. And he doesn’t take anything out either (unlike the Glazers who take millions out each year). He’s not the best owner ever but I am glad we have someone who agrees with our principles, doesn’t harm the club, and is with us for the long term.

Absolutely could not agree more. Whether or not you or anyone likes or hates Stan Kroenke for being the majority owner of Arsenal FC, put yourself for a moment in his shoes.

As I mentioned in my post re him, his is worth billions…plural. Those type of people don’t go to their investment guy and get a list of stocks to buy. They buy real estate, or whole companies, or combinations of the two. So imagine being him….

Hmmm. I can purchase controlling interest in a club that has 1) stable management that has won things, 2) has already built a brand new stadium and gone through the associated financial struggles, and 3) has a stable history of being in the champions league even with the financial stadium thing which generates a ton of extra TV revenue.

Would seem a no brainer to me honestly. Sp*rs still have to deal with a stadium thing or at least they say they do. Chelsea, while Abromavich can certainly afford it, seem to be struggling with such a decision and all of things that go along. I believe Liverpool still have to dump a bunch of money into Annfield although I may be off there a bit. Man U decided to build up Ole Trafford which they are still paying for and in my view, will need to continue to improve as it still remains at the bones an old structure.

Well its a clear victory for the PR heads.surf the wave of good fortune that is the result if Madrids transfer policy and say all the right things to placate the natives, not falling for any of that bullshit

“Guys who try to say that we should push Arsene harder to spend and so on, that’s fair enough, there’s always lots of opinions…”

This is a seasoned, diplomatic line from Kroenke. Very clever. I hope to take what he’s said on face value. But I’m not sure it changes much. Even with the big player departures (Cesc, Nasri, RVP) over the last few years, I still think Arsene genuinely believed he could spring a surprise every year and compete for the title, before realism kicked in a few months later.

I guess what I’m getting at is, I’d like Kroenke to state a more long-term, five-to-ten year aim with regards to leagues won in x years, and the ultimate aim of a Champions League trophy.

Hmmm, still not sure about SK.
“Arsène knows how we feel, what our philosophy is, what we want to do and I feel like we are totally aligned. I think he wants to do it the exact same way as we do.” Could this be because the philosophy you talk about being “ours” is in fact Arsene’s!? More like you are aligned with Arsene’s way of thinking. And as for being a great business man, whilst I’m sure he has surrounded himself with many, I’m pretty sure his wealth is largely part to his wife’s family being the Walmart heirs.
Pretty sure that if I married into a Billionaire family and had the resources and funds available to him, I would be quite successful too.
In saying all that I’m glad he leaves the general running of the club to people who really care. There would be nothing worse than an owner who knows little of the club and it’s history to constantly interfere and undermine the people who do.

This is from a US Arsenal diehard here in North Carolina. I follow all things sport, and outside of Arsenal which is other than my college (US) football (where I earned a degree from so naturally there is a massive connection) team Clemson, my biggest passion is all US sports. Yes college level football is massive here. But I have followed the NFL, the NHL, the NBA, all of it.

His teams here have actually won things, the Colorado Avalanche and St Louis Rams. However, those teams both had very strong management and their trophies came a good while ago.

Stan Kroenke is first and foremost a business man. Actually more of an investor. He always has been an entrepeneur, however, he married the daughter of Walmart cofounder Bud Walton. That makes him worth billions.

Arsenal is an investment for Stan. He does know his place as he stated, and as long as Wenger is in charge and the club are doing well he will pay transfer fees for those that Wenger sees as quality to bring Arsenal to the fore.

But as evidenced by the Rams and the Avalanche, if and when that quality management decides to call it quits or go elsewhere, historically his people have lacked the ability to hire and forge ahead with adequate replacements.

So trust and believe in Wenger is my advice, because otherwise the grass is not always greener with Kroenke and his team at the helm. The Avalanche and Rams have been crap ever since those coaching staffs were ushered out or left. And his NBA team which admittedly is a smaller market team, has never been any good at all.

NCGunner thank you for the insight, especially the bit about what happens to Stan’s clubs after “quality management decides to call it quits or go elsewhere”. Based on NCGunner’s observation I think we can deduce the following took place:

(Spring’13) Ivan: so Arsene, shall we sort out your contract extension?
Arsene: I’ve disappointed the fans for 8 years, it wouldn’t be fair to the fans if I indulged myself to a multi-year 7mm-per-year extension at this time.

(Autumn’13) Ivan: We got Ozil, we’re in the Champions League, we’re top of the table. C’mon Arsene, surely the time is right to sign that extension!
Arsene: Non! As a matter of principle, I feel the winning of a trophy should still be the condition for me to deserve staying longer. Let’s talk again in May.
Stan Kroenke: fook me if Arsene leaves we are massively screwed. I better break my silence and PUBLICLY woo Arsene to sign.

This is an interesting view I haven’t heard before. It’s certainly worth thinking about. Do you really think that the choice of the “crap” coaching staff you describe as taking over at the Avalance and Rams was down to Kroenke?

The long term future of Arsenal is close to my heart — Bertie Mee was manager when I first started supporting the club, so I’ve seen quite a few managers come and go, some highs and some real lows. How much, I wonder, will SK want to influence the eventual choice of a replacement for Le Prof? I’ve always hoped that the biggest voice in selecting his successor will be that of Wenger himself.

Your point is very well taken and spot on in terms of your concerns and I hope Wenger would have that idea and be allowed to push it through. I am not sure why it would not be the case.

We have in the US professional sports these general managers. And Ivan Gazidis is not a like for like in terms of the American general manager. They are not really concerned with the marketing and bottom line, etc. That is more for the president which most have as well, and if they don’t it is down to the owner.

General Managers in US sports (we have athletic directors for our big time college sports) are much more involved and concerned with the day to day operations in terms of on the field stuff…including player drafts which we do not have in major club football (soccer).

So my only point was that Gazidis is clearly not that type, and I don’t assume Kroenke is dumb enough to apply US sports structure to Arsenal. But just saying his folks historically have not hired the right people in the positions to make those decisions in terms of new coaching staffs.

I hope (and think) you are correct in terms of Wenger having the influence.

Saying all the right things in this interview, is Stan. Has yet to take money from the club and has given backing to our manager while stating ambition to win the league – in the context of other foreign owners, maybe he’s not so bad after all. Long may his positive relationship with arsene continue, I say.

Not sure how you came to throw stones at all Americans because of Stan Kroenke’s interview with the Guardian. But, MATE, we don’t all talk like California surfers….and secondly….I think it would be pretty damn “cool”, along with a ton of other adjectives, if we were to win the league.

If I were you I would read the blog from a couple days ago from the very person who so graciously and passionately provides us with this forum.

I believe Blogs himself would say after visiting here (and did so) that most of us, are in fact, pretty “cool”. Or passionate. Or genuine. Or a lot of other things that are good.

We are not saints here by any means….but your post re Americans in general is well…short sited to put it mildly.

We love The Arsenal.

Because we were not born and raised in London, one of my favorite places filled with some of my favorite people in the world, doesn’t make us any less Arsenal fans.

That should be enough. You can hate Stan Kroenke….no need to expand your dislike to us here.

The pyramid of the game in the states is this. You have Kids teams/Junior leagues, High School teams, College teams, and Professional teams. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people who are trying to make it to the top. When kids get to high school level groups form, and if your an outsider, you have zero respect. So in the NFL, should a skinny kid come in, who didn’t make it as anything close to being a player, they will not respect him at all. I know as fans we are obliged to hate AVB, but even in American Eggchasing a young kid with zero experience in the game, being taught by Vince Lombardi (arguably the greatest American Eggchainng coach ever) would still have no respect.

As much as We as arsenal fans do not get the American way of sport, It is normal (or at least as normal as I can explain with my 9 years of living in the US) for fans wanting to own the teams, as opposed to media, and coaching. Remember we are all talking good or bad about him, we NEVER talk about Tony Colbert….

As much as We as arsenal fans do not get the American way of sport, It is normal (or at least as normal as I can explain with my 9 years of living in the US) for fans wanting to own the teams, as opposed to media, and coaching. Owning a team has prestige, and back rom coaching, or even coaching a small team will get you nothing really. Remember we are all talking good or bad about him, we NEVER talk about Tony Colbert….

….”“We have been very supportive, we have never wavered, we are proud of him, proud of the club, the way the club is run and how it holds itself out to the world….” Stan Kroenke
And so say all of us.
From Herbert Chapman to this day.
Up The Arsenal

Wow. Stan speaks, and his fans cheer loudly on the forums. What has he done? NOTHING. Yeah he hasn’t saddled us with debt, or forced his opinions on the club, but what has he done? What is better than when we were owned by the others? At least we were English. Let’s not give him credit for simply buying the club!

He sits on the board. He probably advises (or his technical advisors do) on the club’s business matters. No doubt he has many powerful contacts. He doesn’t interfere with the footballing side — which is, after all, the raison d’être of the club. He appears to be a long-term enthusiast for the club, and sport is his life interest.

In other words, he’s at least as good an owner as those we’ve had in the past — except, it appears, that he’s American, for which some fans don’t appear to be able to forgive him. I’d have preferred the club to remain in English hands too (owned by the fans would be best, the way FC Barcelona is), but the previous owners of club shares sold him their shares, that’s how he became the club’s majority shareholder. Blame them, perhaps. (Anyway, rather him than the Uzbekistan conglomerate billionaire to whom DD sold his shares!)

As I said on Twitter just now, I don’t get all this criticism of SK. We didn’t criticise Nina Bracewell-Smith when the club was having a difficult time. So he’s done nothing? Well, I don’t quite believe that, but he’s done nothing bad that I’m aware of. And that’s good.

Screw you kroenke!! Now speaking up to absorb the positive feel around the club..and it’s just not a usual feel good factor arsenal are experiencing from a winning streak.the world over ,fans of other clubs are all speaking of arsenal in a positive light so this guy speaks up to be associated with this.however if he really means what he says ,get us the 2signings we need in January which will make us unstoppable then this type of statement might be looked at differently.